I admit it…I’m an idealist. And that idealism is firmly behind the creation of Humanitas. I have a fundamental belief in the ‘good’ of mankind. Naive, I’m sure — but it is who I am. Two of my favorite movies of all time, ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ and ‘Field of Dreams’ should give you some indication of just how sappy I am. No apologies.
Recently, my family & I rented ‘Pay It Forward’ — a movie I remember loving the first time I saw it back in 2000 (I believe). And although I had dreamed up the idea for Humanitas, a winery dedicated to ‘giving something back’ in 1997, it was in August of 2001 that I actually started the operation. I can’t help but think this movie was one of the inspirations.
In seeing the movie again, I thought I’d do a little more research, and lo & behold, I discovered that it has an entire movement behind it. The Pay It Forward Foundation, as it says on the website, “…was established in September 2000 by author Catherine Ryan Hyde and others to educate and inspire students to realize that they can change the world, and provide them with opportunities to do so. By bringing the author’s vision and related materials into classrooms internationally, students and their teachers are encouraged to formulate their own ideas of how they can pay it forward.”
It seems each and every one of us can find the time to ‘pay it forward’ in our own way. Even if it is simply turning someone close to you on to a good bottle of wine and stimulate some interesting…and positive conversation. So please, feel free to forward this post on to someone as a first step. Let me know if you have any good stories about yourself or anyone you know doing random acts of kindness. And as always, drink charitably!
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